Most ski-rope retrievers of the prior art employ rotating reels. A few, e.g. Steward U.S. Pat. No. 3,113,563 and Palmieri U.S. Pat. No. 3,498,563, use a fixed-axis non-rotating drum and a rack-driven arm for winding-up the rope and for guiding the paying-out thereof. The bearings of rotating parts are susceptible to wear or to binding by dirt or corrosion, and are more costly to manufacture. Most prior-art retrievers are bulky when not in use, and cranks constitute obvious hazards.